Marble League 2018
The 2018 Winter MarbleLympics were the first winter edition of the MarbleLympics. It contained all new events including Bobsleigh, Curling, Ski Jump, Ice Hockey (like collision) and other winter-based disciplines. The final tournament contained 12 events where 16 teams competed to win medals and points. The scoring system remained the same as in the 2017 MarbleLympics. Hosting This is also the very first MarbleLympics that featured a fixed "host". This trend continues to be featured in successive MarbleLympics editions. The Snowballs ''was the host team in control of the 2018 Winter Marblelympics. Located in The Arctic Circle, their arena was run by the IMC, but was home to The ''Snowballs ''and the Snowballs Royal Family. Qualification: The qualification of the ML2018 was held in mid-to-late-December of 2017. The Snowballs (as the event's hosts), O'rangers (winners of the ML2017), Savage Speeders (runners-up in ML2017) and Mellow Yellow (3rd place in ML2017) qualified automatically. 24 teams entered the qualification in 3 groups of 8 teams each, where the best 4 teams from each group qualified after 4 events. Qualifying events Notes: *The Curling and Halfipipe events were contested from all members of the teams, while in the Snow Race and 5m Ice Dash each team had to select one competitor. *The curling event was split into three separate parts. Each group had its own video. *The Snow Race was originally scheduled for 19 December, but was postponed to 20 December due to technical issues. *The 5m Ice Dash was originally scheduled for 21 December, but it was uploaded 22 December due to editing failures. 'Pots: POT 1: (Non qualified teams of ML2017) *Kobalts *Balls of Chaos *Rojo Rollers POT 2: (4th and 5th places ML2017 + new team) *Midnight Wisps *Team Galactic *Raspberry Racers POT 3: (6th and 7th places ML2017 + new team) *Pinkies *Shining Swarm *Hazers POT 4: (8th, 9th and 10th place ML2017) *Chocolatiers *Team Momo *Limers POT 5: (11th, 12th and 13th place ML2017) *Oceanics *Thunderbolts *Jawbreakers POT 6: (14th, 15th and 16th place 2017) *Team Primary *Jungle Jumpers *Quicksilvers POT 7: (Approved Hubelino Teams) *Black Jacks *Minty Maniacs *Golden Orbs POT 8: (3 more new teams) *Crazy Cat's Eyes *Team Plasma *Gliding Glaciers NOTE: Snowballs, O'rangers,Savage Speeders and Mellow Yellow were already qualified and did not need to participate here. '''Groups: 'Curling:' The curling event features a short shoot that each marble on a team will roll out of 1 by 1 towards a "house" or target with different rings that equate to different point values. I.e. if one marble finishes in the blue ring it earns 1 points. Group A: Group B: Group C: *After the semi-final match between Team Primary and Balls of Chaos, which ended in a draw but Team Primary won by virtue of having a marble closer to the button, Balls of Chaos fans attempted to storm the area in rage before entering in a brawl with other spectators. A spectator eventually entered the playing field, but was escorted out. 'Snow Race:' The Snow Race is very similar to the Sand Race from the 2016 summer games and the 2017 summer games, but takes place in the snow as opposed to in the sand. Group A: Group B: Gliding Glaciers and Oceanics failed to finish the race, so their results are based on the distance reached (i.e. which team is closer to the finishing line) Group C: This was the first heat in any racing event where none of the competing marbles finished the race. Despite having no finishers, the race was not restarted due to the fact that each marble had already agreed to race in the harsh conditions. The scores were determined based upon distance to the finish line, with the closest to the finishing line earning 8 points with the points distributed in the same way all the way until the farthest marble which received 1 point. '5-Meter Ice Dash:' The 5-meter ice dash is a racing event similar to the 5-meter sprint, the difference being where it gets the name ice dash, the course is made of smooth plastic with no barriers between the marbles, causing an effect similar to slipping on ice. Group A: Group B: Group C: 'Halfpipe:' The halfpipe features, well, a halfpipe. All four marbles on 2 teams roll down a chute onto the halfpipe and try to stay rolling for as long as possible while slowly making their way towards the bottom of the halfpipe. Slowest time wins! Group A: Group B: Group C: *After it was determined that Team Primary would not qualify for ML2018, a duel between Balls of Chaos and Team Primary occurred, which included competitors and spectators from both teams. Fortunately, security took everything under control. 'Final Results' The top four teams of each group advanced to the Tournament. Group A Group B Group C *After Team Momo merged with Team Primary to form Team Momary during the main tournament, Team Primary technically qualified. That said, they did not reach the twenty-point threshold needed to qualify during qualifications, and would not have competed in ML2018 otherwise.* if new rules added the top 4 then the 5th place team will qualify. if Team Primary ends in 5th or lower the top 4 and Team Primary will both qualify. 'Qualified teams' *Out of the 16 teams that qualified for the final tournament, four teams (Hazers, Minty Maniacs, Crazy Cat's Eyes and Raspberry Racers) made their debut in the MarbleLympics. *2 teams, those being the Snowballs (hosts) and Balls of Chaos had participated in the 2016 summer games, but failed to qualify for the 2017 summer games, making this their 2nd time participating. *The Midnights Wisps is the only team that made their debut in the 2017 summer games and qualified for the 2018 winter games. *Team Momo and Team Primary temporarily merged due to injuries sustained by Momomo and Momomomo. Their name was Team Momary. Friendly League Also known as the "Practice Tournament", this video puts the pre-qualified teams against each other in the 2018 qualifying events. Snowballs, O'Rangers, Savage Speeders, and Mellow Yellow participated in this friendly. Results: *The Snow Race was cancelled due to bad weather during the event. Main Tournament: Event 1: 5 Meter Ice Dash Event 1 of the Winter MarbleLympics began with the opening ceremony, which featured a beautiful new track created by GrandAdmiralMellacus. The ceremony introduced each of the 16 teams as well as the ice king and queen, rulers of the arctic circle, along with IMC (International Marblelympic Committee). The anthem of the Snowballs was played after the torch was lit. The event itself was identical to the 5 Meter Ice Dash featured in the qualifiers. Event One Results: Event 2: Ski Jumping Ski Jump is very similar to Long Jump, but takes place in the snow. The marbles roll down a track and soar into the air, trying to jump as far as possible. The record entering the event is 120.7. Balls of Chaos won gold by breaking that record with Hazers coming close. Event Two Results: Event 3: Halfpipe Event 3 was originally Curling, but the video was cancelled due to disapproval by the IMC. The event is replaced by Halfpipe. A new version of curling was scheduled as a future event barring any production delays. The Halfpipe was structured with two heats but only the slower of the two times was counted. Event Three Results: Event 4: Bobsleigh: The team uses a 3D printed bobsleigh to slide down a course made of snow and ice as fast as possible. If a marble leaves the bobsleigh for any reason, then the judges will add a certain number of penalty points. During this event, Team Momo's sled stopped after they started, so there was a retry. The team also received several injuries. Event Four Results Event 5: Speed Skating 20m: This is the first event in which Team Momary competed in. This event was delayed twice. It was originally scheduled for 21 February then 22 February until it was finally released on 23 February. Savage Speeders tied the previous record, and then that record was broken by the Hazers. Event Five Results: Event 6: Team Pursuit: The teams need to roll down 20 meters. The fastest 3 marbles to cross the line (on the blue block) wins. If a team has two false starts or the distance between marbles is too far, then they are disqualified. Oceanics broke the record in this event in the Heat Qualifiers (29.94). This event has a bracket format. Event Six Results: Event 7: Snow Rally: Based off of the famous Sand Marble Rally. All sixteen marbles race down a hill of snow. There are two races and the winner will go to the marble with the most points. The tiebreaker will go to the fastest average time. Event Seven Results: Bold = Tiebreak Event 8: Snowboard Cross: This event was supposed to be Curling, but the event was delayed again. In this challenge, 8 marbles will chase a track with obstacles. The top 4 from each heat go in the finals. This event is also called ´Indoor Slalom´. Event Eight Results: Event 9: Curling: This event was supposed to be Event 3, then Event 4 until the original video was rejected. It was then scheduled for Event 8 before ending up in Event 9. This event will have two videos. The first is the group stage and the second is the knockout stage and the victory ceremony. First Round Playoff Games Event 9 Results: Event 10: Gravitrax Biathlon: Gravitrax is made by Ravensburger, a German toy company. Gravitrax is described as an interactive ball track system that allows people to create their own tracks based on the laws of gravity. It is a relay race. The last marble goes to a colored grid. The number of points removed depends on what color the marble lands. The Oceanics received another try because of fan interference. Crazy Cat's Eyes scored a new record. Event 10 Results: Event 11: Ice Hockey: Based off of the Collision events from the 2016 and 2017 MarbleLympics. Two teams of marbles will ride down a track and collide with each other on the rink, as well as with a set of ball-bearing "pucks". This event is quite similar as the fidget spinner collission, but now with ball bearings (pucks) instead of the dangerous spinners. Each team must try to push the pucks inside the goal of the opponent but it must also prevent own goals by bouncing away oncoming pucks. Seven pucks (ball bearings) were used to add more action in less time. If a team marble crosses the goal line, it won't be counted as a goal. This is the only event in which all five marbles are participating. Event 11 Results: Event 12: Sand Mogul Race: This event was met with delays because of Jelle's vacation. It was held at a temporary stadium because The Arctic Circle was destroyed by a blizzard. Event 12 Results: Placing After Each Event Overall Results (With Points Earned) The first, second, and third place teams from this MarbleLympics (Midnight Wisps, Savage Speeders and Oceanics) have prequalified for the 2019 Marblelympics. Because the Oceanics were selected as hosts for the 2019 Marblelympics, the O'rangers filled their vacancy as the fourth team to prequalify. Fun Facts *This is the first MarbleLympics season to feature a host team, and fittingly, the host team was the Snowballs. *This was also set to be the first season of the rebranding to Marble Games - the change was done to avoid copyright issues as per Jelle's statement in his Youtube channel. However the name remains MarbleLympics. *Some of the snow and ice events will be held in Bad Kieinkirchheim, Austria, which is also a real-life ski resort. *The Gliding Glaciers, despite their name, failed to qualify or even reach 7th place in their qualifying group. *This is the first MarbleLympics season to feature interviews work into the videos. These interviews were soon moved to a secondary channel - Inside the MarbleLympics - which includes also exclusive original talk shows starring the competitors. *Both Team Plasma and the Crazy Cat's Eyes have roots in the Sand Marble Rally, with Team Plasma being based on SMR2016 champion Ghost Plasma, and the Crazy Cat's Eyes being based on Crazy Cat's Eye. *Additionally, the Minty Maniacs, Golden Orbs, and the Black Jacks are teams crossed over from the Hubelino Tournament, although Golden Orbs had a slight name change, from Golden Wisps to Golden Orbs. *The Gliding Glaciers, Hazers, and Raspberry Racers are the only 3 newcomers not based on an already existing series on Jelle's channel, however, commentator Greg Woods has stated that the Raspberry Racers has a feud with the Limers. *Going back to the Raspberry Racers, Jelle has said that they are a combination team between both the Bluefastics and the Valiants Violets from the Hubelino Tournament. *This marks the second season in a row that the original top 5 teams (Savage Speeders, Mellow Yellow, Thunderbolts, Team Momo, and O'rangers from MarbleLympics 2016) have all qualified for the main tournament. * There was a major controversy when M&H Racing did a similar looking event with the same name, resulting in confusion and accusations. This resulted in an agreement in which M&H Racing changed the name to the Marble Winter Games. Jelle has since asked his fans to be respectful to both parties. *This is the first Marblelympics where two different teams merged into one team, with Team Momo teaming up with Team Primary due to injuries from Momomo and Momomomo, albeit temporary. *This was also the first to use hashtags. *This MarbleLympics has also a "Search Challenge" in each event where the viewer must spot a certain marble which can be hidden in the stands or somewhere around the track. The difficulty is based on the visibility of the marble and the length of the video. *Midnight Wisps are the first winners not to compete in the 2016 Marblelympics. __FORCETOC__ Category:Tournaments